Looking Ahead: The Aircraft Wish List For 2017

Around this time of year you will no doubt be seeing plenty of "New Year Resolution" posts, this post is one and at the same time isn't one of those type of posts.

After last year in which I completed just one kit and suffered a significant loss of motivation I've taken some time to reflect on what I want to achieve this year and come up with an "ideal" world list (actually, it's 3 lists) which I'm hoping will give me a sense of direction but not be so strict as to become too much of a chore to complete.

I've decided to break down the builds into 3 categories, ideally if I can complete one build from each to a reasonably high (for me) standard then I'll consider 2017 a success. Realistically I need to tackle some of the kits I currently own before buying new ones, so some of listed won't become an option until I complete others.

Category 1: Out of the box builds

My, as of yet incomplete, Typhoon build showed me that I don't have to buy photo-etch and resin extras to actually have a build that is both enjoyable while providing a sense of achievement and progress at the same time.

We're very fortunate that these days we have a good choice when it comes to out of the box builds. As I want to build these models in flight, to keep things straight forward as possible, the Airfix range is ideal as they always seem to give you the option of both, something I wish all manufacturers would do.

• Airfix 1:72 Spitfire Mk.I/IIa (Owned)
• Airfix 1:72 Bf 109E-7/Trop (Owned)
• Airifx 1:72 Hurricane Mk.I (New Purchase)
• Airifx 1:72 P-51D Mustang (New Purchase)

Category 2: Detailed Builds

The next level of build involves a bit more detail, here I want to more work on the cockpit, either resin replacement work or photo-etch enhancement, or both. In such cases the canopy will be open so the aircraft will be modelled as it were on the ground and I will also consider building a display base.

• Eduard 1:72 Spitfire Mk.IXc (Owned)

There's only one aircraft in this list, however I own more than one of these kits so I could, if I excel myself, possibly build more than one of the same aircraft.

Category 3: Conversion builds

The final category is the most involved and challenging as it goes beyond the standard detailing and requires conversion work such as resin engines, super detailed interiors and so on. The kits I have in mind are:

• Tamiya Mosquito FB Mk.VI (Owned)
• Tamiya P-47D Thunderbolt converted to a P-47M (New Purchase)

As I've said this is an an "ideal" world list but I think it will be useful to look back after a year and see if this list helped me focus. Of course I won't just be building aircraft so there will still be builds that aren't on this list, and hopefully some miniature painting as well.

Time to get 2017 started then!

Completed Review - Airfix Boulton Paul Defiant (A02069)

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £8.99

This is probably the briefest review I've done; a few photos that I wanted to share with you followed by a quick summary.

This is fantastic kit, one of the best I've tried. Only issue I recall is for some reason the topside of the nose didn't quite line up. I've seen a few cases of this happening but it may just be down to how I fitted the cockpit. If you've had the same problem feel free to let me know.

The model was painted with Vallejo model air paints, I followed the steps I used in my Airifx Hurricane quick build. Panel lines and weathering were done with Flory Models' Dark Dirt and Sand washes.

The markings of this aircraft come from the dogfight double set (A50170) and are those of the highest scoring Defiant crew, Sergeants Ted Thorn (pilot) and Frederic Baker (gunner).

Eduard photo-etch was used for interior details and the gun barrels came from Master Models of Poland. That reminds me, the reason why I had to replace the guns was that the plastic ones are really difficult to remove from the sprue and in my case I snapped them. Montex masks were used during painting, I wouldn't recommend them for this kit as they don't really hold on the curved turret part (not too bad on the flat parts though).

As always you can keep up-to-date with all my builds on my Instagram page.

Overall Build Score: 4.5 out of 5, another excellent release from Airfix. The shape is finally correct and aside from slight fit issues and the poor turret guns the kit builds very well. The individual boxed version offers you the choice between the aircraft's two main roles, the early day and then the later night fighter. In addition the canopy, raised or lowered fairing, and landing gear options ensure you have all possible configurations available to build. The aircraft itself may have been considered a failure but this kit is a triumph!

New Box, Old Mould - The Pitfalls of Kit Selection

A few days ago I was involved in an on-line discussion regarding the re-issuing of old moulds which I thought I'd revisit on this blog.

The discussion started with a commenter's experience of building, in their words, the awful Airfix 1:48 scale Hawker Fury, which contains plastic from 1980. It then turned to whether or not it was an underhand tactic by model makers to sell kits that are well past their sell-by date and is such practice unfair on customers?

New Box, Old Plastic

To start with lets look at things from the model companies point of view. They have a product to sell, they exist to make money. Straight forward and to point I know, but that is the reality and I see little point in blaming them. It's easy for us to shift the blame to them, to call them underhand but in the end it's up to us, as customers, to make informed choices.  If we do then we won't be buying the inferior products and they will cease to sell them.

Certain companies seem to have different approaches to re-boxes, in my experience they are:

• Academy - For years Academy have been producing budget kits of a mixed quality. In recent years they've started releasing more expensive and higher quality kits but I've not yet seen any of their range retired. They've changed the catalogue numbers of some their older kits but released them exactly the same as before so I'm not even sure that counts as re-boxing them.
• Airfix - The near bankrupt Airfix of a few years ago quite obviously couldn't afford to do much else other than sell their old models. But now there's been a significant cull of older models. Although some still remain I suspect that there will be replacements in the pipeline.
• Eduard - A newer manufacturer with an emphasis on quality. There kits seem to retired fairly quickly.
• Hasegawa - It feels like Hasegawa never change. I've bought many of their kits and sold them all on, never actually building a single one. Alongside their steady range of new releases new box, old model seems to be what they do.
• Revell - The re-box kings. I rarely buy Revell models for the reason so many of them are so old, and in many case not even their models to begin with. I think their recent Star Wars licence will keep them earning for the foreseeable future along with the loyalty of the American market toward the old Monogram kits. But Revell just isn't a name that's associated with quality in my opinion. Which is a shame, because the few new kits they make are actually very good, if you can find them.
•  Tamiya - Like Hasegawa they never seem to change, we see a few new kits each year which are of a high standard. However their older models were years ahead of their competitors when they first came out so they seem to still hold their own against today's kits. Interesting in my preferred scale, 1:72, I have noticed a reduction in the range recently (mostly the Italeri kits they re-boxed for the Asian market) so they obviously feel some of the older kits are no longer of a high enough quality.

I do believe it's no coincidence that that model kits have moved in terms of quality so much in the last 10 or so years alongside the growth of the internet side of scale modelling. By participating in forums and groups, by writing blogs and posting photographs and so on, are we already driving the change so many of us desire?

And then there are on-line resources such as Scalemates. This site is a model kit database which gives a complete time-line of many kits, allowing us to see just how old the plastic inside that box is.

One counterargument I often hear is the argument that bad kits will put off beginners from continuing with the hobby. I can see the point, after the first kit I built for this blog you may wonder why I continued. Well I do believe this is a hobby that requires a certain amount of perseverance and patience anyway. Anyone who quits after one setback will never be a modeller, so that's one reason. Secondly the majority of model companies have already figured this out which is why we have the starter kit. These are the kits I always see younger modellers with in my local hobby shop. Interestingly this seems more common among companies targeting Western audiences, maybe those beginners in Asia have the character I referred to in my first point or maybe model making is more embedded in their culture?

So with all that in mind I guess it's time to wrap this post up. To finish I will say, if you really do want to build an Airfix 1:48 scale Hawker Fury from 1980 now's your chance. I very much doubt this kit will be around for much longer.

San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives

I don't usually post links on this blog to things I've found on the internet but tonight I'm making an exception.

Earlier I logged into flickr for the first time in a long time and suddenly one of my feeds was showing old photos of WWII bomber nose art. The feed led me to an album of photos of the 90th Bomb Group including this particular aircraft and it's crew, Moby Dick.

I had a feeling I recognised this aircraft, turns out I did, it's one of the Mission Centenarians that feature in the Eduard kit of the same name, (kit 2111), that I'd been looking at a few nights before.

Anyway, there a whole lot more, this album is one of many from the archives of the San Diego Air & Space Museum, check them out.

One Today - Miniatures In Detail's First Birthday!

It's one year today since this blog started so I thought I'd spend a bit of time reflecting before looking forward to the next year. The intention of this blog was to chart my return to scale modelling and at that it has succeeded. It was certainly a mixed year, a wide range of projects were attempted, there was a mix of success and failure.

Highlights included Tamiya's F/P-51D which I believe is my best build to date and Airfix's A6M2b Zero which came just at a time when I felt I was never going to get anywhere. There was also the unexpected return to fantasy miniatures and a first try at 1:48 scale military figures which I hope will lead to future projects.

Success!

Outside of this blog I've have been surprised by the success of my Pinterest page which I've been using to link to inspiration photos and articles I've found on the internet while researching projects.

As for the lowlights, there were a few failed projects, but the main one was my failure to complete all but one of the models I mentioned in my first post (two were started and subsequently abandoned, two remain un-started). This was partly due to my inexperience and not really having much focus, essentially I based this to-do list on what kits I had available at the time.

Failure! One out of five completed, two half completed...

I think part of the reason was that I wanted to attempt so much that I never really found any focus for the majority of this year, but this period of discovery has led me to realise that I'm finally finding areas of interest.

So what are they? Aircraft wise, I found a growing interest in US Second World War aircraft (but not just in US service), leading through to late war experimental aircraft and early cold war aircraft from all nations.

Which brings us back to the present day, with a clearer idea of what I like I can write another, hopefully more focused, to-do list for the coming year and be more successful this time round!

The To - Do List - 2014/15

In no particular order:

1. Another Tamiya kit, I want to carry on from my most successful build to date. A good part of that success was due to the fact I was building such a quality kit, it makes sense to build another.
2. An Eduard Profipack. After using Eduard detail sets for many of my builds it's time I tried the full package, Eduard plastic with Eduard photo-etch.
3. A Luftwaffe WWII experimental / jet fighter. A long time area of personal interest (I'll write more about that later) that I've yet to visit in model form.
4. An early Cold War era jet. A newer area of interest that has followed on from my interest in WWII jets. I'm aware I could chose Tamiya's F-84G Thunderjet (I've had my eye on it for a while now) and count this build towards No. 1 as well, but I would prefer that it doesn't.
5. A sci-fi scale model. Of course I'm hoping this will involve successfully finishing the Fine Molds TIE fighter which I couldn't resist starting a few days ago.

If I achieve some success with these targets, and time allows, then I'd like to attempt a 1:48 scale military project, probably starting out with a small vehicle to accompany the figures I've already attempted.

And finally I've like to at least continue painting miniatures. However I've found it difficult to stay inspired and focused so realistically I think I will be miniature painting between the modelling projects for now. At the moment I'm completely out of practice but who knows maybe this time next year, I'll be painting more of them as well as having completed plenty of scale model projects!

As for you my readers, I hope you've enjoyed this past year as much I have and I hope to continue sharing my journey with you into the next year (and beyond).

Build Review - Snap-Fit Hit? Zvezda's Messerchmitt Bf-109F-2 (7302)

I said curiosity would lead me to try building Zvezda's 1:72 Bf-109F-2 and sure enough it did! So surprised was I by how the initial stages of the build went that I just had to share.

This kit is designed to snap-fit together without the need for glue, however I have decided that I wish to glue it and add some extras. But that doesn't mean I wasn't going to see just how well it fitted.

To start with I assembed the cockpit front and rear walls on the single piece that formed the wings, the idea is that you then push this up through the assembled fuselage and it all snaps together. I generally prefer models that provide you with wings in a single piece (where possible) because it eliminates the need for checking angles that comes from having two separate wings.

As you can see it's a nicely detailed cockpit. Although I did use Eduard's photo-etch set, (73475), I didn't feel the need to use the whole set. Once that was done I was ready to assemble the fuselage. I painted the side walls of the cockpit and made sure I didn't forget to add the tail wheel before joining the two halves. Here I elected to use glue, while the parts snapped together I wanted a sold join between the parts, that I wouldn't have otherwise got.

And then it was time to push the cockpit up through the bottom of the fuselage which turned out to be a really firm fit and it all clipped together perfectly.

Finally I clipped in the panel to the base of the wings which contained the wheel wells, couldn't be simpler. The only thing I didn't like was already the attached pitot tube as it's far to easy to bend or break.

So what are my thoughts? To start with I think I prefer this approach to easy kits compared to the Hobby Boss approach of few simple parts. The way Zvezda have engineered this kit leads to a really well thought out kit, intelligently engineered with easy assembly in mind. The bonus is that the detail doesn't have to be sacrificed this way. Plus it gives the modeller more freedom to build the kit in as easy or as complex a way as they feel comfortable doing.

Reading a lot of the modelling forums I see a lot of the more experienced modellers dismissing this kit because it's a snap-fit kit and it appears such a kit is beneath them. It's a shame that such thinking may cause some to miss out, in my opinion (and reflected in my approach) this hobby should be all about experimentation and trying out new things.

Like I said at the beginning of this post this is only the initial stage of the build so I will refrain from any thought of scoring until it's progressed further. But so far, so good!

Update (26th April 2014)

Unfortunately this kit, although very nice fell foul of my nemesis, Tamiya's XF-2 flat white paint. For some reason I find working with white paint (via spray, airbrush or even paint brush) to be extremely difficult and in this case so difficult it pretty much ruined the model.

Completed Review - Tamiya F-51D Mustang, built as a late WW2 P-51D, (60754) - Part 2

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £12.99

I'm going to cut to the chase with this review. Since the beginning of this blog I've been trying to reach a level of building that I'm happy with, and from that point continue to improve. The Airfix A6M2b Zero came close, but this build was the one where I finally reached my goal.

For those of you joining part way through this build I elected to backdate the Korean War F-51D to a late Second World War P-51D, one flown by the late Charles Weaver of the 357th Fighter Group, named "Passion Wagon." The reason for this was I had bought this kit second hand and some (but not all as it happens) of the decals had perished.

In an earlier post I alluded to my belief that sometimes it's worth paying more because you get a better kit and this kit proved to be a prime example. The fit is near perfect, even when I replaced the cockpit with a resin one and had to cut and use original parts alongside it. There's just a touch more class about a Tamiya kit, reflected throughout the whole product. Detailed instructions, poly-caps for the propellers (and a spare set for the alternative propeller) are just some of the things that come to mind.

In addition to this the decal options were varied and although the main reason for me backdating this model to a late WW2 P-51D was a set of perished decals I still found myself able to use some of the originals (not bad for a 10+ years old perished set)! I should add that I was fairly impressed with the Kitsworld decals but I'll follow this post with another about them.

The only additions I felt it was necessary to add were a small bit of clear plastic to the gun-sight and a few leftover photo-etch parts from my Academy P-51B build. The photo-etch seatbelts included in the CMK set I consider a must compared to the decal ones included in the kit, but this kit does pre-date such additions. I'll add wires and the rear view mirror at a later date as I'm planning on mounting this model in a case at some point in the future and those parts are a bit delicate.

So onto the photos:

The only part of my build that I'm dissatisfied with is my filing just in front of the wind-shield (somewhat more noticeable in the photos above than it is to the naked eye). If I can eliminate such mistakes from my future builds I'll be more than happy. But for now I'm hoping this build is the one that leads me onto better things.

Overall Build Score: 4.5 out of 5, for a kit that's more than 10 years old this is still a class above the rest. A perfectly reasonable price for such a clean fitting, precision kit that you'll find a pleasure to build.

Incomplete Review - Academy P-51B Mustang, Old Crow, (#1667 or #12464) - Part 2

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £6.99

I know what you're probably thinking. "Incomplete", this isn't going to be a good review, but stay with me.

The non-completion of this kit is more due to my own mistakes, all of which were avoidable, rather than the kit itself. I'd made the rather stupid mistake of using the wrong glue for the rear windows which had caused them to fog and to be honest I was never happy with the replacements that I'd made. Also as I was building Tamiya's F-51D at the same time and it was progressing better than this build I've decided to call it a day with this one.

Despite my personal failure with this kit I do have some positive thoughts about it. For a start it's the most accurate P-51B that I've come across. I also have a limited edition 1:72 scale Hasegawa RAF Mustang combo kit (2 aircraft in one kit) which retails at around the £30 mark, (so £15 per aircraft) and they have the wrong wings, those of a P-51D! As a result my Hasegawa kit is probably heading off to eBay some time soon...

When it comes to decals and marking options I think the 3 options are good range. Two USAAF options, one with the standard hood, one with the domed Malcolm hood and an RAF option, again with the Malcolm hood. For a budget kit this an excellent selection. The only issue is, as always, the decals are a little on the thick side.

Detail wise, it's a little lacking in places but the shape is correct and with the availability of 3rd party accessories it can be as simple or as detailed as you like. The Eduard photo etch set (SS250) which I used is highly recommended.

The only real let down were the ever present Academy fit issues, the cockpits never seem to fit easily on all the kits I've tried and I'm sure the wings for this kit wouldn't have fitted if you tried to fit them as the instructions say.

But overall I have say, I like this kit. If I didn't have so many other kits to build at this I would just buy another one and start again.

Overall Build Score: 3 out of 5, for a budget kit it's an excellent representation of the P-51B with a good choice of decals and alternative canopies. As long as you are prepared to deal with some fit issues!

WIP - Academy's P-51B Mustang & Tamiya's F-51D Mustang

Carrying on from where I left off I realise that my Christmas Mustangs project is rapidly becoming an Easter Mustangs project.

So here's some work in progress shots, both kits are painted and ready for decals. Since getting my new airbrush I've managed to actually paint the white stripes on the wings of the Tamiya model while the Academy one was painted with my old airbrush.

Academy's P-51B

Academy's P-51B

Tamiya's F-51D (as a P-51D)

Tamiya's F-51D (as a P-51D)

Actually; I couldn't resist starting on the decals for the Tamiya kit before writing this post...

Build Review - Tamiya's F-51D Mustang (built as a late WW2 P-51D) - Part 1

It's been a while since I last looked at my Christmas Mustang project. The Academy P-51B Mustang, Old Crow, (kit #1667 or #12464) is now at a stage where's it's been painted and is ready for the decals to be applied. However before I do that I thought I'd get the Tamiya kit that I'd planned on building to the same stage.

You may remember I planned on converting the F-51D to a late Second World War P-51D, one flown by Charles Weaver of the 357th Fighter Group, named "Passion Wagon".

As previously mentioned I was to replace the kit decals (which had perished) with a set from Kits-World (set #2049) and the cockpit with a resin set from CMK (#7172).

So to start with I had to build the cockpit. The set from CMK provided a nice cockpit but as there were no side walls (unlike a lot of the resins sets from Aires) I didn't initially feel it offered much more than the part it was replacing. However where it came into it's own was the highly detailed seat, the photo-etch parts and the instrument panel. These did eventually make enough of a difference to convince me that this set was worth buying.


The resin parts fitted well, but I did need to remove the rear wall from the original cockpit piece as a rear wall wasn't included. I found the best way to do this was to glue the resin cockpit to one of the sides, let it set and then added the plastic rear wall and then finally the radiator. Each time I also dry fitted the other side of the aircraft to ensure that when I finally put them together they did indeed fit!

It should be noted I've since removed the seat to make masking the cockpit that bit easier

So initial thoughts are the main difference between this kit and the Academy kit was that there weren't any of the frustrating fit issues that you get with the Academy kit. The Tamiya kit appears to have been made with that slight bit of extra precision. Of course you are going to pay more for this but I'm slowly coming round to thinking that the extra cost is worth it for less hassle when assembling.

Completed Review – Academy P-39N/Q Airacobra (2177) – Part 4

Scale: 1:72, RRP - £6.99

So 7 months have passed since I last looked at Academy's P-39N/Q Airacobra and finally, half-heartedly, decided to finish this project off.

I previously stated that I like Academy kits, they might be cheap but they tend to pack in a reasonable amount of detail for the price. However at the budget end of the market the new Airfix range seem to be surpassing them and after completing Airfix's A6M2b Zero I somewhat lost my enthusiasm for the Academy kits in my stash.

With this particular kit it was the fit issues which almost killed it off. The cockpit was difficult to fit and the two halves had a particularly ugly join which spoilt the whole model. I was also going to attempt to remodel the front wheel to be the correct size but in the end decided to leave it as it is. On the plus side I did like the option of modelling the cockpit door open, however to do so meant you really need to purchase a third detail kit (in my case one from Eduard which was to the usual high standard).

So here it is. I'm not really proud of this one, I just wanted it finished so I could move on to something else.


I combined this kit with the decals from the ancient and awful Airfix kit but really I find hard to recommend either kit. Here's hoping to Airfix issue a newly tooled P-39 to match the standard of their most recent releases!

Overall Build Score: 2 out of 5, too many fit issues and a lack of attention to detail spoil what had the potential to be a very nice budget kit.

Evidence (the token New Year's Resolution post)

It's a new year and of course it brings with it new New Year's resolutions.

Looking at my stash of kits and miniatures one would probably think my resolution should be to not buy any more kits. But I'm not exactly prepared to go so far, so I think a more realistic compromise would be to limit the number I buy.

This post can serve as written evidence. This year I will buy less, build more from the stash. So, here's a list of kits I don't yet own but could buy this year. I don't have to buy them if my resolve is especially strong!

• Eduard's 1:72 MiG 15 (either a single or the combo kit)
• Airfix's 1:72 English Electric Lightning F2A
• Fine Molds' 1:72 Star Wars Y-Wing fighter

Miniatures wise, I don't buy many these days so apart from the odd figure or two out of curiosity I don't expect to buy much. Potential buys are from (in no particular order):

• Hasslefree Miniatures
• Black Scorpion Miniatures
• Perry Miniatures
• Mierce Miniatures
• Wargames Foundry 

And that's it, let see how long this resolution holds for. Apparently 33% of resolutions are broken by the end of January, 50% by the end of February, 80% before the year is out... Feel free to share your own modelling resolutions!

An average Modeller's stash? Top people working on it, no doubt!

Merry Christmas (And A Mustang Update) - Part 1

First of all, Merry Christmas to all the readers of this blog, I hope your Christmas modelling endeavours are going well!

As promised the Mustang build has begun with Academy's 1:72 scale P-51B. Construction begun with the cockpit, which to fair to this kit is pretty decent straight out of the box. However as I was using an Eduard photo etch set, (SS250), to enhance it I had to file away a fair bit of it!

As you can imagine at this scale, things are small, but that was nothing compared to constructing the side walls. The Eduard set make a more 3D effect to the cockpit which looks much better, after some very fiddly bending and folding of parts which almost too small! Well worth the effort though.

So after waiting for all that glue to dry then it was onto putting the two halves together. Experience has taught me that Academy kits don't tend to go together well and this was the case again.It took a fair bit of filing, pushing and cursing to get them together with a small but fillable gap between them.

Once they were together the next stage was to attach the wings. The wings consist of a single bottom half with both wings and two top halves. The instructions say that you should build the whole assembly and then slot it onto the fuselage. Given the fit issues I'd experienced I decided to slot the single bottom half onto the fuselage with a bit of cutting and filing. Once that was in place I attached the two wing tops. As it happens that's exactly the way the Tamiya F-51D kit is meant to be built and I think it works much easier that way.

So all in all, a productive day. Only thing was that I was careless with the glazed parts, again! Fortunately the plastic box my breakfast croissant came in was a lifesaver as I was able to cut out a replacement window from it!

Christmas Mustangs

After the complete failure of trying to build Academy's F6F-3 Hellcat I've decided to get straight back into action with a dual build.

I've been running short of a few essentials but fortunately a delivery arrived for me, primer, paints, a few detail sets and some decals, just in time for Christmas!

So what am I building next?

I've decided to attempt to build two models at the same time, two 1:72 scale P-51 Mustangs.

First up is Academy's P-51B Mustang, Old Crow, (kit #1667 or #12464) with the addition of an Eduard photo etch set (SS250). First impressions are that this is a nicely detailed kit, I hoping that it goes together better than the last Academy kit I tried.

As well as that I'll be building Tamiya's F-51D Mustang, however I'm planning on converting it back to an earlier WWII P-51D. The main reason for this is that I bought this kit second hand and the decals have perished. So I've got some replacement decals from Kits-World (set #2049). I have to say I'm really impressed with their sets, check them out! Finally, as luxury item, I've got a resin interior set from CMK (#7172). I've been curious about the products they offer so I thought I'd try out a fairly simple one with a view to buying more in the future.

So a few more days of work and then the Christmas break arrives and with it some quality modelling time and more updates!

Simple Scratchbuilding - Academy's F6F-3/5 Hellcat (2224)

After my last build I decided that my next model would be an opposing aircraft, also in flight. Naturally I decided on the Zero's rival, the Grumman F6F Hellcat, of which I had a couple to choose from in my stash.

Opening up Academy's 1/72 F6F-3/5 kit (2224) I was surprised to find that there was only the option to build a wheels down version.

Any way you like as long as it's gear down

Oh well, I thought, guess I'm going to have to build Eduard's F6F-3 (kit 7076, also 1/72 scale). But once again, only one option is offered, wheels down.

I imagine the reason for this is that the Hellcat had hydraulically actuated landing gear struts which rotated through 90° and retracted backwards into the wings (instead of sideways like many other aircraft of the era). I presume this was because the wings folded up to save space when been transported on aircraft carriers. From a modelling point of view this would mean manufacturers would have to produce more parts so in these cases it's appears they didn't feel the need to.

So with the parts I had, I decided to try and model the gear up. This wasn't a straight forward as I expected. For a start the gear covers don't actually fit the space where they'd go if they were up, so some trimming was be needed! Fortunately there was enough space within the wing for the wheels, the finishing touch was to added the struts. These were made from small pieces of cocktail sticks, sliced horizontally.

Finally I cut a hole in the base of the aircraft for the stand. One thing I learnt from my last build was, doing this on a completed model is a somewhat nerve-wracking task, best avoided if possible!

Update 16-Dec: Unfortunately this particular build was consigned to the scrapheap soon afterwards. While trying to fit the clear parts I damaged several of them which meant I would not be able to finish this model to the standard I'd hoped for. (I later realised that the fumes from the glue I used to stick the two fuselage halves together above the clear parts had caused them to fog).